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Rush to secure properties in southeast Queensland as floods set to peak

Torwood Street in inner-city Auchenflower was one of the few Brisbane suburbs to suffer notable flooding on Tuesday. Picture: Thomas Chamberlin Source:
The Courier-Mail

BRISBANE residents can stop holding their breath - floodwaters have peaked and fallen short of causing serious damage in the River City. However, 60,000 people in Brisbane face the threat of no water overnight because of the earlier shutdown of the Mt Crosby Water treatment plant.

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10.08pm: Brisbane City Council has stockpiled 40,000 one-litre bottles of water in case the taps run dry in seven suburbs.

9.45pm: GRAVE concerns are held for two workmates who are missing after a car was found fully submerged in flood waters near Gatton.

A 25-year-old man and a 34-year-old man failed to reach their destinations when travelling from Gatton to Mulgowie on Tuesday.

Crowds turned out to see the expected flood peak in the CBD at noon on Tuesday, but the river behaved itself.

The men were travelling to the same destination in separate cars, but at this stage it is not known if the men were travelling in convoy.

A Mitsubishi Magna which the 34-year-old man was driving was pulled from Sandy Creek near Glen Cairn this afternoon.

Police are still searching for the 25 year-old’s Toyota Camry with registration number 425RWU.

Police and SES have stop searching for tonight and will be back out tomorrow morning.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of either of the men should contact police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 00.

A view of the Eagle Street Pier area at about noon on Tuesday.

8.45pm: About 60,000 people in seven Brisbane suburbs face the threat of no water overnight because of the earlier shutdown of the Mt Crosby Water treatment plant.

Queensland Urban Utilities have named Tarragindi, Camp Hill, Carina North, Mount Gravatt, Tingalpa, Rocklea and Oxley as most at risk of losing supply however a spokesman said that was "very unlikely".

Brisbane City Council is organising stations in those suburbs to provide residents with bottled water. Water trucks will also be made available in those areas, in the event of a loss of supply.

A QUU spokesman said those suburbs would "be the ones to go in the unlikely event that we do lose supply".

"If that was the case we would be distributing bottled water and advising where those locations are," he said.

"However Mt Crosby has been partially recommissioned. While that's still running the position gets stronger and more secure.

"It's still running at reasonable capacity. If we can bring more of the plant online, the issues go away."

The Mt Crosby treatment plant predominantly supplies Brisbane's south side, but it is not clear why those suburbs are most at risk.

All Brisbane residents, as well as those in Logan, Ipswich, Redlands, Lockyer Valley and the Scenic Rim are urged to conserve water to minimise the supply issue over the next 24 to 48 hours.

7.00pm: ELECTIVE surgery and specialist outpatient appointments at one of Brisbane's biggest hospitals have been suspended until water supplies return to normal.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital was preparing to divert major trauma cases to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital tonight after the Mt Crosby Water Treatment Plant was shutdown because of turbidity caused by the flood.

The Brisbane River in the CBD on Tuesday.

Metro South Hospital and Health Service CEO Richard Ashby said about 30 elective surgeries and 2000 outpatient appointments, scheduled for tomorrow morning, had been cancelled.

He said he hoped hospital services would return to normal by lunchtime but this would be dictated by when ``the water situation returns to normal''.

4.45pm: The majority of train services are expected to be back up and running by peak hour tomorrow, but commuters have been warned there could be delays and cancellations.

Some inner-city train services will resume this afternoon after the removal of scaffolding that fell on tracks at Fortitude Valley during high winds.

Two tracks have so far been cleared of debris, with the remaining two tracks expected to be back online for tomorrow morning's peak hour.

Sandbags are in place at Eagle Street Pier on Tuesday morning. Picture: Wallis Peter

It will allow a reduced number of services on the Gold Coast, Caboolture, Ferny Grove and Shorncliffe line to resume this afternoon.

Transport Minister Scott Emerson said it was expected 90 per cent of services would be back up and running by tomorrow morning.

Adjustments had also been made to clear fixed charges applied to Go Cards in cases where commuters could not touch off due to power failures.

4.05pm: THE Moreton Bay Regional Council's waste facilities will waive dumping fees until Monday, February 11, for disposal of tree and vegetation debris caused by the weekend's severe weather.

All council waste facilities will be open every day until the close of business on that day to provide greater access to residents and contractors.

A picture snapped in Bundaberg on Monday shows a group of school-aged children hastily being transported away from flood threatened areas. Schools were due to return across the state today, but there are widespread closures in the Bundaberg region. Picture: Facebook

Residents who engage a contractor to dispose of debris should ensure they are not charged fees while the council waiver is in effect.

3.18pm: HOMES have been flooded in Logan and residents are stranded - and the river continues to rise.

Long-term residents say it is the worst flood they have seen.

Around eight homes in Bayes Rd at Chambers Flat have up to 2m of water through them.

A dog breeder and her animals were marooned on the top floor of her high-set home, while neighbours evacuated.

A reader snaps a pic of the Brisbane River early on Tuesday morning, looking from Tennyson back toward the city in the distance. Picture: Simon Kern

They included Vaughn Catsicas, who fled in the darkness early on Tuesday morning as water engulfed his low-set home.

"There was no warning from the SES or anyone that the house was going to flood," he said.

"I managed to get my motorbike and a few other things out and now the place is underwater. And the water's still rising - it's come up about 10m since I got out."

The SES used a boat to evacuate other residents from nearby Wendt Rd at Logan Village.

The Logan City Council could not say how many homes had been flooded.

Morgan Ruig (front) helps other volunteers and friends and family help strip and empty houses in Milton, as people prepare their homes for the expected flooding tomorrow. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

2.35pm: SOUTHEAST Queensland residents have been urged to restrict water use to "drinking, cooking and washing" or face the prospect of running out over the next couple of days.

In an unexpected consequence of the heavy rainfall, the turbidity of the water is at such a level, the Mt Crosby water treatment plant has shut down.

It means about 225 megalitres of water will be available to the region, about half of what is normally consumed.

"I do stress that if people just keep using the water at the normal level of 450 megalitres a day there is a problem in some parts of the city, that the reservoirs on the hilltops could run dry and that locally people won't have water," said Premier Campbell Newman.

"So I appeal to the community to actually do everything they can to heed this message."

He said it was vital people did not use water for activities such as topping up pools, washing cars and cleaning paths.

A helicopter rescues a family at Fairmead on the Burnett River downstream of Bundaberg. Pic: Paul Beutel

High levels of soil from the Lockyer Valley have been washed into the water supply as a result of the heavy rain, leaving the Mt Crosby water treatment is unable to cope.

Mr Newman said it would be 24 to 48 hours before the water ran clean.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk reiterated the water conservation appeal, and also invited Brisbane residents to put out green waste on footpaths by Sunday night, for collection Monday.

"We've also put in place provisions around food waste. There was of course power outages for a significant period of time," Cr Quirk said.

"There'll be about 50 food waste bins in 36 suburbs."

2.30pm: The only sign of deep water at South Bank were those very words on a banner next to the lifeguard's chair, pointing to the pool of the man-made beach where tourists and families made the most of the sunny weather.

From about 10.30am, curious flood spotters gathered, wondering whether they would see history repeat itself.

For those who were there in 2011, watching the Brisbane River spread into the South Bank pools was something to remember. Fortunately, those memories were not refreshed yesterday.

Some people brought their lunch and made a picnic out of it. Others just kept an eye on the water level from the comfort of the pools.

At the river's peak, water lapped onto the grass near the low-lying footpath in front of the Brisbane Wheel but the rest of the walkway along South Bank remained high and dry.

2.05pm: THE waters have only just receded, but planning for the huge task of cleaning-up after the flood has begun.

Flood and damage in the town of Laidley. Pic Peter Wallis

Brisbane City Council has organised for special collections of green waste and food waste across flood-struck suburbs and will release details of collection times this afternoon.

Up to 100,000 homes across the city lost power during the storms, creating the problem of how to dispose of huge amounts of rotten food.

Ordinary garbage collection services will go ahead as normal, with only a few Brisbane roads still cut by water.

Brisbane City Council staff are working to clear 600 reports of fallen trees and debris in need of removal, which will take until at least Wednesday.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said while the city had seen the worst of the flood damage, residents should remain alert for the possibility of trees falling as a result of saturated grounds and the possibility for more high winds.

He said it was unlikely the clean-up would require the thousands of mud army volunteers as in 2011, but volunteers with specialist skills would still be needed. It will release more details about volunteer arrangements in the near future.

1.22pm: GOOD news for Keith Urban fans, with a new show scheduled for the Brisbane Entertainment Centre next Tuesday.

The Aussie entertainer cancelled shows on Sunday and Monday nights because of the severe weather.

1.10pm: THE Brisbane Markets at Rocklea have escaped significant damage after the Brisbane River peaked earlier today.

The markets, which were completely submerged in the 2011 floods, activated contingency plans after they were warned overnight of possible inundation.

George Lathouras, sales manager at produce vendor Murray Bros, said while they were prepared the impact will be minimal.

"We moved all produce into higher areas and evacuated some stock, but overall we've probably missed about 20 per cent of trading," he said.

The markets lost power from about 8pm Saturday night until 4am Sunday morning, however there was little damage to stock.

"We were pretty prepared after last time," Mr Lathouras said.

"But I still wasn't sure if I'd be selling apples or shovelling mud come this morning."

The markets will be fully operational again from Wednesday morning.

1.01pm: PRELIMINARY damage assessment for the Brisbane River flood peak is "looking very positive", according to authorities.

Queensland Fire and Rescue Service Acting Chief Superintendent for the Brisbane region Kevin Walsh said swift water rescue crews were in the process of collecting data.

"It's preliminary but all signs indicate there are no great areas of concern," he said.

"The flood levels are no greater than yesterday's levels.

"It's all looking very positive at the moment."

12.45am: AFTER days of rain and with dams in excess of 100 per cent capacity, Brisbane, Logan and Ipswich residents are in danger of running out of drinking water.

The region's main water treatment plant at Mt Crosby is currently offline because of record turbidity levels in the Brisbane River.

The high level of soil is the result of run-off from farmland in the Lockyer Valley into Lockyer Creek, which feeds into Wivenhoe Dam.

Premier Campbell Newman urged residents to heed the message to conserve water, with the problem not expected to be resolved for about 48-hours.

SEQWater CEO Terri Benson said the turbidity levels in the Brisbane River were four times the level experienced during the January 2011 flood event.

"While the Mt Crosby Water Treatment Plant is offline, Seqwater is using the Water Grid to move water from a number of different bulk water sources across the region, including the Gold Coast Desalination Plant," Ms Benson said.

"Seqwater is also managing the power, communication technology and site access issues at a number of sites across the region."

She said SEQWater was working closely with local councils and distribution retailer authorities to ensure "a balance was achieved between bulk water supply and demand".

"As a result of the large flows entering the region's water sources, a number of those sources are currently experiencing high levels of manganese," Ms Benson said.

"Manganese is a naturally occurring mineral and customers may notice discolouration and odour. It can also stain plumbing fixtures and laundry."

Residents in Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Redlands, Moreton Bay, Lockyer, Somerset and Scenic Rim were urged to conserve water for the next 24-48 hours.

12.25pm: RESIDENTS in Brisbane's western suburbs have been spared any flooding with high tides peaking lower than expected.

In Moggill this morning many people were watching the brown raging waters flow past the ferry terminal, which has been cut off by the flood.

In the Brisbane river at Bellbowrie three pontoons are floating free after breaking their moorings.

Fire fighters and SES crews are out surveying areas that had been predicted to be inundated by Brisbane City Council but their services have yet to be required.

College's Crossing is cut off by flood waters as is an area of Allard Close but no homes have been affected there.

12.22pm: PREMIER Campbell Newman is urging Brisbane residents to conserve water as a result of problems with the treatment plant.

A high level of soil in the Lockyer Creek, which flows into the Wivenhoe catchment, has caused the treatment plant to operate more slowly. More to come soon.

12.15pm: VODAFONE crews are working to restore mobile services across the state, with services now restored in Surfers Paradise and Currumbin.

Vodafone crews are onsite to repair the remaining outages at five sites on the Gold Coast.

Residents in Airlie Beach, Mackay, Deception Bay, Kingston and Mt Gravatt will need to wait another 24 hours for mobile services to be restored, as Vodafone crews wait on advice from emergency services as to when they will be able to gain access to flood affected sites.

Alexandra Hills and surrounds should expect to have services restored by 3pm this afternoon.

Vodafone has reported 40 single site outages across the state as a result of storm and flood damage.

Crews are working in impacted regions to restore services as soon as possible.

11.55am: FLOOD waters have caused some localised flooding near Brisbane's Breakfast Creek Hotel, with the swollen river spilling onto several streets in the area.

A taxi rank in the area has been affected, but the flood caused more issues yesterday by comparison.

11.50am: Firefighters are travelling between homes in flooded Torwood St in Auchenflower, checking on residents.

Anne Bolland, 43, said she was prepared for the rising waters today and had moved "everything" upstairs.

"This is the third time we have been flooded," she said.

Ms Bolland said water levels in the street were higher yesterday and didn't believe her home was damaged at this stage.

She said her husband was staying in their home keeping an eye on the rising waters.

"We still have power," she said.

Ivan Gaiko, of Vincent St, which runs into Torwood St, said the water levels today were about 6 inches lower than yesterday.

The 68-year-old said people from Nundah helped him move items above ground yesterday.

"The top of the windows were covered in 2011," he said.

He said most people kept items about 1m above the ground after the 2011 flood.

11.45am: WATER that lapped the city's river boardwalk has almost dried away in Tuesday's bright sunshine.

It was just after 11am that a small amount of water spilled onto the boardwalk in an isolated section.

"Good Morning New Farm! Energex says there's a few of you without power. If any of you need to charge phones and laptops, even electric toothbrushes, Gertie will have extra power boards this afternoon for you to plug your bits in to," the message read.

There are currently 158,606 homes and businesses across the southeast without power.

9.56am: SOME Logan residents have evacuated as the Albert and Logan rivers flood, south of Brisbane.

And several have slammed what they say is a lack of communication from Logan Shire Council about the flooding.

Logan Village resident Tracy Newton said she and her family had left their Pioneer Drive home as floodwaters rose.

"Many Logan Village residents, like me, have been unable to tell what's going on with their home as the new flood maps have completely missed their streets," she posted on Facebook.

"We had four properties flooding into ours when we left yesterday and it was still rising - absolutely gushing in."

Another resident, Annalese Jack posted: " As usual, the region that was formerly Beaudesert council has been mostly forgotten by Logan (council)."

The Logan River at Maclean Bridge was due to peak at South Maclean at 3am this morning, at Maclean Bridge at 6am and Waterford at 4pm today.

9.54am: Banks have recorded issues affecting the ATM network and local branches around Queensland this morning.

Extreme weather and power outages have shut down more than 60 Westpac ATM's around the state and forced the closure of several local branches.

24 stores have been impacted in areas of Rocklea, Maryborough, Gympie and areas of Northern New South Wales.

9.52am: SWIFT water rescue crews will be sent out during the flood peak period today to record the damage inflicted on Brisbane.

QFRS Acting Chief Superintendent for the Brisbane region Kevin Walsh said 18 personnel will document the flooding and pass it on to Brisbane City council.

"In the peak of the river levels (between 11am-12pm), crews will be sent out to take pictures of the areas of flooding to give to council," he said.

"This rapid damage assessment is the major activity at the moment."

He said there were no rescues in Brisbane overnight, though there were 28 calls for assistance because of the weather.

9.50am: THE Brisbane river is rising closer to the boardwalk in the CBD, with businesses and locals anxiously watching its progress.

While joggers and cyclists are treating the boardwalk as normal, the increasing tide is a reminder of what has been predicted to come.

The river is about 30cm from spilling onto the boardwalk.

Restaurants, including Jellyfish and Riverbar and Kitchen, have sandbagged in preparation, with workers standing by to reinforce these measures.

Amateur photographers have also travelled down to capture the high tide.

"We just came to see what had happened in our lunch break," one worker said.

"It doesn't look too bad now but we'll see at 11, I guess."

9.26am: Brisbane residents have been advised to conserve water usage due to high silt and reduced levels of potable water supplies.

Brisbane City Council said residents were also advised to avoid excess hosing of external areas of their homes to conserve water usage.

9.17am: The concert by Celtic Thunder at Brisbane entertainment Centre tonight (Tuesday) has been cancelled because of the flooding.

Leon Spellson from Nine Live, promoter of the tour, said: "We are extremely disappointed that Celtic Thunder cannot perform for their Brisbane fans, but these circumstances are unfortunately beyond our control."

Ticket funds are through Ticketek. If tickets were purchased by Visa or Mastercard credit card, a refund will be automatically processed to the card.

8.40am: A DEFENCE Force C130 airfcraft has landed at Bundaberg to begin evacuating patients from the Bundaberg Base Hospital as the city braces for a peak flood in the Burnett River this afternoon.

8.35am: The department of Education, Training and Employment has released an updated list of schools closed today due to flooding. Find the complete list here.

8.30am: MARYBOROUGH police are looking for a mystery man last seen clinging to a tree in flood water in Queen's Park.

The man was spotted by members of the public swimming in flood water at 7.37pm Monday between the Maryborough Court house and Lennox St.

Police confirmed swift water rescue were called to the scene but were unable to locate the man in the darkness.

Emergency services, including QFRS crews, were notified this morning and have joined the search in an effort to locate the now missing man.

6.16am: BRISBANE residents woke to fog as they brace for expected flood peaks later this morning.

Flood Hydrologist Jess Carey from the Bureau of Meteorology said the first peak will occur around 11am in Brisbane city, as the high tide brings an expected peak of 2.6m.

Brisbane's Western suburbs are still expecting low level flooding.

Peaks are projected to reach 10m at Moggill and 6m at Jindalee.

But the worst appears passed at Ipswich as waters continue to recede, expected to return to normal by Thursday.

Ipswich's Bremmer River currently sits at 13.25m and is falling.

Goodna, badly flooded in 2011, is breathing a sigh of relief as the region escapes serious flooding with little-to-no effect recorded by Bureau Hydrology.

Bundaberg, Maryborough and the Logan River still remain areas of concern.

6.07am: People across Brisbane returning to work today have been advised to delay travel on public transport during peak hours, with trains functioning on an ad-hoc basis.

All stations on the rail network are open except for Fortitude Valley, where debris has caused disruptions to the power supply.

Trains have been diverted between Roma Street and Bowen Hills via the Exhibition line, but there is a shuttle train service linking Roma Street and Central, a Translink spokesman said.

"This has been in place from this morning as we are trying to make sure people can get to Central and access areas," he said.

"The trains are not running on a particular time table but they leave fairly consistently as demand requires them.

"People should expect delays and travel off-peak if possibly to ease the burden on the rail network."

The spokesman added buses were operating as normal around Brisbane's CBD despite a few minor diversions.

"There is a high frequency of services and buses will run through the major corridors," he said.

5.48am: EVEN as good news begins to trickle in for the southeast, the worst is yet to come in Bundaberg as flood levels continue to rise.

Flood Hydrologist Jess Carey from the Bureau of Meteorology said the Burnett River in Bundaberg is yet to peak as water still moves through the system from upstream.

The Bureau is predicting the river to peak at 9.5m, more than 0.4m higher than initially projected.

Mr Carey said Bundaberg residents are likely to see flood waters remain high for the next couple of days but should see levels drop by the weekend.

He said there is also a major concern as flooding moves through the Logan River, south of Brisbane, later tonight but could not confirm the expected peak for the region at this stage.

5.30am: AROUND 167,000 homes are currently still without power in the southeast after 50,000 properties were reconnected overnight.

Four hundred Energex crews will work through Tuesday to restore more homes and are hopeful improved weather conditions will assist their efforts.

Their focus will be hospitals, sewerage and water treatment, major roadways, schools without power, and then urban and rural customers.

Crews will keep a close watch on the river levels in case the rising floodwaters impact underground power supplies.

Almost one in four homes has had power disrupted since the wild weather first hit the region about midday Saturday.

There are still 56,000 power outages in Brisbane, 22,700 on the Gold Coast and 19,700 in the Logan area.

5.20am: FLOODING in Ipswich peaked much lower than anticipated but police warn the southeast is not out of the woods yet.

Ipswich Police confirmed no houses in the community west of Brisbane have been flooded at this stage but locals should remain on alert.

Flood waters have reportedly begun to subside quite dramatically after the Bremmer River peaked around 9.30pm Monday at 13.9m, much lower than the 15m peak earlier projected.

Police confirmed there are still a number of road closures and traffic lights out in the area.

5am: One of the suburbs worst hit during the 2011 floods, Goodna, east of Ipswich, appears to have avoided any repeat of that devastation during this latest weather event.

Local councillor Paul Tully contacted ABC radio shortly before 5am to report that no houses in the low-lying area had flooded overnight.

He warned residents not to celebrate early or consider returning their belongings to their properties, as it was possible that water levels could again threaten during high tides in the next 24 hours, but he was cautiously optimistic.

The news was being interpreted as a possible indication of what to expect downstream in Brisbane, where parts of the city are bracing for flood waters.

1.37am: There are currently 180,000 homes without power in southeast Queensland, with 50,000 reconnected overnight.

Energex has a target of reconnecting another 100,000 by Tuesday night.

There are still 22,000 homes without power on the Gold Coast.

Some affected suburbs are without any lights at all, including street and traffic lights. Others are partially powered.

Check energex.com.au for more detailed information - including restoration estimates - but there is no guaranteed restoration schedule because of the extent of the repair work.

On ABC Radio, Energex representative Nathan Hatch thanked the company's customers for their patience as repairs continue across the network after significant damage done by the high winds.

Mr Hatch said hinterland and hard-to-access areas would remain the biggest challenge to Energex crews.

1.05am: The Brisbane River at Moggill is experiencing a 9.5m peak, while nearby Jindalee is peaking at 6m, about 7m below the 2011 flood level.

Logan is expected to peak at Waterford Bridge at 8m on Tuesday afternoon.

The Brisbane River is expected to peak at 2.6m about 11am Tuesday. Multiple smaller flood peaks above 2m will coincide with high tides until at least Thursday.

Further north, the Burnett River at Bundaberg is sitting at a record 9.3m. Flows are relatively steady but will increase until levels peak late Tuesday or early Wednesday. The December 2010 flood level at Bundaberg was 7.92m.

12.18am: Floodwaters have receded in many inner-city suburban streets in Brisbane which were flooded Sunday night or Monday morning.

Water in the area around Northey St, Windsor, which last night saw heavy inundation with dozens of homes evacuated, has retreated, with only a few roads left partially closed.

Flooding has also diminished in the western suburb of Rosalie, where evacuations took place earlier today.

12.00am: Ipswich residents looked likely to miss the worst of the flooding as the expected flood peak in the Bremer River was revised down from 15m to 13.8m.

Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale said he was "hoping for 14m, not 15m, which would save hundreds of properties" when the river was expected to peak some time before midnight.

He said it was possible that fewer than 200 properties in the Ipswich area would be affected but that it would nevertheless be a long night

* Flooding in Brisbane's CBD and in some suburbs inundated two years ago.

* Flooding in a string of cities and towns including Ipswich, Bundaberg, Maryborough, Gympie, Laidley and Mundubbera.

* A warning that Rockhampton would record a major flood this weekend.

* The state's worst power outages, affecting 283,000 properties.

* A crippling of the passenger train network with cancelled services and the forced closure of Central, Fortitude Valley and Bowen

* Hills stations for at least the next two days.

* The closure of more than 200 schools for today's return of the school year.

* A shutdown of the Telstra network in north Queensland, crashing all Triple-0 calls, which was rectified last night.

* The forming of a Joint Task Force by the Defence Force to respond to flooding problems.

* Confirmation of four deaths after an accident that left a three-year-old boy dead and injured his mother in Gordon Park.

Premier Campbell Newman said: "We are tough, we know what this state can throw up, we choose to live here, and it is a great place, and we will do it, we will get through this."

He said Bundaberg faced a "grave situation" with extra police heading there to help the city of 70,000 people, as well as an Australian Defence Force taskforce.

"These are record floods and we are, as many people have said, in uncharted territories," Mr Newman said.

"I have a heavy heart too but we must stand up and get right into this."

He refused to speculate on the cost of the widespread disaster, or the impact on Queensland's bottom line.

"I know the Federal Government will be giving us financial assistance, as they did last time," the Premier said. "But the first thing is to get through this flood, to make sure people are safe. That's my focus."

Brisbane's biggest test is expected to come today, with an 11am river peak coinciding with the high tide.

An unprecedented shutdown of three of the city's busiest train stations will test workers as they return to work after the long weekend.

Central, Fortitude Valley and Bowen Hills stations are all out of action, as a result of loose scaffolding slicing through four overhead wires near Brunswick Street.

Transport Minister Scott Emerson said there were simply not enough buses to carry train commuters, unless they travelled out of peak times.

Citycat services have also been suspended due to river flooding, leaving buses as the only public transport option for CBD workers.

Almost a quarter of a million homes were still without power last night across the southeast.

Adding to the woes, was a Telstra outage caused by damage to fibre optic cables at Kingaroy and Colosseum that cut phone access in central and north Queensland.

Police confirmed the death of a 60-year-old man at Greenbank, who had ridden into floodwaters on a motorcycle.

A 30-year-old mother suffered a broken leg when she was struck by a falling tree at Gordon Park while looking at swollen Kedron Brook with her toddler son. He was in hospital in a critical condition with severe head injuries.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan was reluctant to comment on the prospect of another flood levy to help pay for the damage.

Other towns in strife were Laidley - where more than 100 people spent last night in an evacuation centre - and Rockhampton, which is counting down to a weekend flood of the Fitzroy River.

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Comments on this story

Chipper the Lick of Brisbane Posted at 1:57 PM January 29, 2013

@Kevin: A Cat1 Cyclone is classified when the SUSTAINED wind speeds reach 119-153kmh. We may have had wind gusts up to 150kmh but the sustained winds were under or around 100kmh. This classifies it as a tropical storm.
My worry is what the consequences will be when an actual Cyclone hits. SEQ hasnt seen one in decades and since the the lay of the land has changed significantly due to population boom.

The Word of SEQ Posted at 1:48 PM January 29, 2013

Two words people Flood Insurance - not interested, can't or won't pay then One Word people MOVE!

Ellen Posted at 1:42 PM January 29, 2013

@'all should pay not just taxpayers' - if you were hit with $567 flood levy, that's because his taxable income was $131,700, after deductions. The flood levy is small enough that it is very reasonable in comparison to the income you're making.
I'm sorry, but I don't think it's fair to ask for that sort of contribution from someone on minimum wage or unable to work because of a bonafide disability.

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